By Ade Hennis
On January 1st, 2018, California legalized recreational marijuana. California joins Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington as states that allow recreational marijuana use. It is expected that Massachusetts and Maine will follow, according to the New York Times.
The state of Colorado generates approximately $1 billion a year in recreational marijuana sales, and a similar surplus could happen in California. By contrast, states that authorize recreational and medical marijuana use gain around $6 billion in revenue. Marijuana Business Daily projects that this figure will increase to $9 billion by the end of 2018.
President Donald Trump has taken steps that shows he may not be in favor of this legalization. For instance, his administration is attempting to enforce more federal laws on states that allow recreational use of marijuana. This could give more power to federal prosecutors to aggressively enforce marijuana laws. Because of this, its sale in the states that allow it will become more difficult.
